Meet Your VRMB Faculty

The VRMB Faculty provides cutting-edge insight to the vacation rental industry. While our backgrounds and areas of expertise vary, all faculty members hold in common one of the Inner Circle's prestigious badges of achievement.

Wes Melton

Wes is a builder of things, technology expert, and Lego fanatic. Previously a technology consultant to national brands, he now spends his days building his brand, writing code, and contributing to the broader business and technology community.

Nancy McAleer

Nancy is an entrepreneur and small business executive with a focus on internet marketing, interior design, and VR management. She specializes in turning investment properties into profit centers. Nancy is a writer, blogger, and a consultant with an obsession for innovation and perfection. Find her Anna Maria Island Home Rental﻿ here.

David is a serial entrepreneur who founded and exited an EdTech startup, consulted with Fortune 100 brands, wrote for Search Engine Journal, and recently sold one of the fastest growing property management brands in the country. He is laser-focused on developing SmokyMountains.com into the premier niche listing site in the country.

Matt Landau

Matt is a VR enthusiast based in the emerging historic district of Panama City, Panama. Originally from Princeton, NJ, Matt got an Int. Economics degree from the University of Richmond, and after exploring Central America post graduation, he accidentally fell into the vacation rental industry when he purchased Los Cuatro Tulipanes, the oldest existing luxury rentals in Casco Viejo.

Donna Martinez

Donna is owner of ﻿﻿Sea Ranch Abalone Bay Vacation﻿﻿ Rental and CEO of Abalone Bay Properties, LLC with properties across California, Washington and Virginia. She enthusiastically brings her broad experience in research, writing, teaching, advocacy, as well as developing and presenting at international conferences to the Vacation Rental Industry.

Marc Ribail

Marc learned the “tricks” during 15 years in high-end villa management and marketing in Asia. He now wears 3 hats of its own with a villa agency specialised in Asia (Eats & Retreats), a luxury rental marketing label (Unique Retreats) and a comprehensive PMS integrated with key partners (Klik.Villas). Recently, Marc opened the company﻿﻿'s European office in Barcelona.

Jan Stevens

Jan Stevens is a professional residential interior designer of over 38 years. In 2004 Jan began vacation renting her family waterfront cabin applying her design aesthetic to make the property a stand out. Customer service, organization and professionally designed interiors have proven to be a successful formula leading to Jan’s small vacation rental management company, Bowen Island Accommodations (est in 2013).

Debi (and Rob) Hertert

A believer in the sharing economy, Debi tells the stories of short term rental hosts in the podcast ﻿﻿﻿Hosting ﻿﻿Your﻿﻿﻿ ﻿﻿H﻿﻿ome﻿﻿. She is the organizer of the HomeSharePDX Meetup and Portland Host Facebook groups in Portland, serving as an educational resource for hundreds in the host community. Owner and manager of 4 vacation rentals on the Oregon Coast and Portland for over 10 years, and an early member of the Inner Circle, Debi is committed to her guests and hosts alike.

Bob Garner

Bob is owner and hands-on manager of ﻿﻿﻿﻿Casal dei﻿﻿ Fichi﻿﻿ in Le Marche, Italy. He moved from London 12 years ago seeking a new challenge and to find a more balanced way of life. Bob is continually fascinated by the evolving nature of the vacation industry and is chuffed to bits that he appears to have some flair in creating a great guest experience.

Drew Pearson

Drew is a dreamer and a programmer. Specializing in website and application development, Drew’s innovative and data-driven approach make him a leader in user-friendly, business compatible, sleek and accessible solutions for vacation rental companies and private property owners around the globe. In his personal life, Drew is very much a family man passionate about traveling with his wife and two sons.

Rick Oster

Rick is a real estate investment entrepreneur and former advertising executive. He left the corporate world six years ago to follow his passion and grow his vacation rental brand; Oster Golf Houses. All of his vacation rental homes are designed and built specifically for golf groups. Rick enjoys creating unique marketing campaigns that appeal to his narrow niche.

Linda Lou Huiskes

Linda Lou is the owner of a 4-bedroom vacation rental villa on the island of Curacao. Having traveled the Caribbean for work and to escape the cold Dutch winters, she and her family fell in love with Curacao. This resulted in the purchase of Vi﻿lla ﻿Seash﻿ell﻿﻿﻿, which was also their home for a while! In the mean time Linda Lou moved to Aruba where she designs vacation rental websites for local owners.

Darik Eaton

Darik, a student of Business, Management, and the Vacation Rental Industry brings a scientific approach that results in increased income and profits. Starting with his own condo, he launched what would quickly become Seattle Oasis Vacation Rentals a leading Vacation Rental Management Company with 50 properties under management. Leveraging this experience, he has recently launched Princeville Vacation Rentals to elevate the level of vacation rental management on The Garden Isle of Kauai.

Terry Whyte

Terry is the owner of two condos "Absolute Anna ﻿﻿﻿Maria﻿﻿﻿" & "The Beach Sands" and the owner of Anna Maria Island Beach Rentals Inc. managing twenty five properties in Florida and North Carolina. With 25 years of experience in the vacation rental business as an owner and property manager he understands the unique challenges of hosting and managing. Terry divides his time between his home in Toronto and his properties on Florida's Gulf Coast.

Tara & Josh Conger

Tara & Josh are owners of The Conger Collection, a nearly two decade young, family owned and operated luxury vacation rental and property management company based in Wisconsin. Tara focuses on new business development through Conger Brokerage Services, and Josh spends the majority of his time working on business operations and concierge services through their EscapeNorth App, as well as their online rental portal for watercraft and merchandise at the Escape North Store.

All VRMB guest posts, whitepapers, and group research are coordinated in the Inner Circle.